[Numpy-discussion] Integers to integer powers, let's make a decision

[Matthew Brett]

On Sat, Jun 4, 2016 at 10:45 AM, Nathaniel Smith <njs at pobox.com> wrote:
> +1
>
> On Sat, Jun 4, 2016 at 10:22 AM, Charles R Harris
> <charlesr.harris at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Hi All,
>>
>> I've made a new post so that we can make an explicit decision. AFAICT, the
>> two proposals are
>>
>> Integers to negative integer powers raise an error.
>> Integers to integer powers always results in floats.
>>
>> My own sense is that 1. would be closest to current behavior and using a
>> float exponential when a float is wanted is an explicit way to indicate that
>> desire. OTOH, 2. would be the most convenient default for everyday numerical
>> computation, but I think would more likely break current code. I am going to
>> come down on the side of 1., which I don't think should cause too many
>> problems if we start with a {Future, Deprecation}Warning explaining the
>> workaround.

I agree - error for negative integer powers seems like the safest option.

Cheers,

Matthew